Seal-lock



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

`(meel.)

J. CHAPMAN.

SEAL LoeK. s

Patented Sept. 13, 1881.

PETERS. Pnam-Umegnphnr, wnshingmn. D C

(Model.) 'u A zvsneets-sheet'z.

J. CHAPMAN.

SEAL LOCK.

1110.241011. Papented sept. 13,1881.

. fofmys N, PETERS, Phuwlillmgnpher. Wnhinwn. D.C,

UNITED STATES i PATENT OEEICE.

JOSEPH CHAPMAN, OF DUBUQUE, IOWA.

- SEAL-LOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 247,011, dated September 13, 1881.

Application filed September 4, 1880.

To all lwhom it may concern Beit known that I, JOSEPH CHAPMAN, of

Dubuque, in the county of Dubuque, in the State of Iowa, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Car Locks and Seals; and I declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is an outer end View of the lockingpin with the seal in place as it appears on the outside of the door. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the lock-pin and seal. Fig. 3 is a front end view of the locking-pin, the seal and key being removed. Fig. 4 is alongitudinal horizontal section taken on the line .fr w in Fig. 2, showing also in section the adjoining parts of the door. Fig. 5is a reverse view of the seal. Fig. 6 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 4, but showing a pin of modified construction; Fig. 7, an elevation of the modi'ed pin detatched, and Fig. 8 a plan view of the s eal used with this pm;

The same letters denote the same parts in all the figures.

My invention relates to a device for holding the seal in place on the door so that it cannot be removed without destroying it, which device also serves as a lock to prevent the opening of the door without the destruction of the seal, and is intended especially forrailway-cars for the transportation of freight.

In the drawings, A represents a part (near the back edge) of a sliding door such as is ordinarily used on freight-cars, and movin g back and forth on ways on-the outside of the car.

A hole, a, is made through the door near the rear edge thereof, and, if desired, may be provided with a metallic bushing, which, however, will not ordinarily be necessary.

A pin, B, of about the same size as the hole through the door, is made of a length about twice the thickness of the door, and is cut away or flattened on two opposite sides for about half its length, beginning at the inner end, as shown at b in Fig. 4. ofthe drawings.

A pair of elastic plates or springs, C, are attached to the iiattened sides of the pin near its inner end, and extend backward not quite so far as the flattened portions of those sides. They are set on the pin so as to extend outward somewhat from its body, as shown in Fig.

(Model.)

4 of the drawings, so that at their free ends they are spread apart considerably more than the diameter of the pin, and so considerably more than the diameter of the hole a. When compressed against the flattened sides, however, they are within the diameter of the unflattened portion of the pin. The length of this untlattened portion is not less than the thickness ofthe door. A hole extends through the piu having the same cylindrical axis with it, and just large enough to permit a key or bolt, D, to move back and forth in it. This key is somewhat longer than the pin,and has at its outer end a head, d, considerably larger than the opening in the pin, and iiat on theinner side, so as to sit close against the outer end of the pin or any iiat surface covering the same.

The portion d of the key nearest the head is a truncated wedge, having its base near the head, and having at its narrowest part a thickness each way about equal to the cylindrical diameter of the main portion of the key. A depression, b', in the outer end of the pin, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawings, is of a size and shape adaptedl to receive this wedgeshaped portion of the key, which is thus prevented from turning in the pin. This arrangement is not indispensable, but gives increased stability and diminishes wear. A seal, E, is made of a Width every way considerably greater than the hole in the door, so shaped on the inner side as to sit close against the head of the pin, and on the outer side to sitclose against the inner side of the key-head, and having, as shown in Fig. 5, anvopening, e, in the middle corresponding to the depression b in the outer end ofthe pin. On its inner end, d2, the key is threaded. A nut, F, screws on :the threaded portion, and thus holds the key from being drawn back through thepin.

For use, the key being out of the pin, the seal is placed on the outer end of the pin, so that the hole in the seal shall coincide with the depression in the outer end of the pin. The key is then inserted, being pushed in until the inner surface of its head sits close on the seal. The nut is then screwed on the inner end of the key and up to the inner end of the pin, so that the key is held rmly in the pin and holds the seal firmly between its head and the outer end of the pin. The door being closed, the pin is forced through the hole a, the elastic IOO plates C immediately expanding again as soon as their'free ends have passed quite through the door, when, by locking against the inner side of the door beyond the circumference of a, they make it impossible to draw the pin out again. At the same time, the seal, being considerably wider than a, makes it impossible, so long as it remains unbroken, to push the pin any farther in. The part of the pin which is Within the car, locking against the jamb of the doorway, prevents the door from being slid open. When, however, it becomes necessary to open the door, the seal can readily be broken, and the wholepin pushed quite through the door, when there will be no obstacle to sliding the door back.

A somewhat simpler form of the locking-pin is shown iu Figs. 6 and 7 of the drawings, in which the pin B is made of a single piece of suitable metal, being cut away on each side somewhat, so as to be considerably thicker in one direction than the other, and provided with a head, g, at one end. At the other end the pin has portions b cut out either on the wide or narrow sides of the piu, the same as in the construction described above, and for the same purpose, to accommodate the elastic plates or springs C, which are attached to this portion of the pin in the same manner. The seal E has the central opening, e, somewhat enlarged for this pin-that is, it must be large enough to permit the body ofthe pin to be slipped through it, butnot to permit the head to pass through.

The device is applied as described above, but obviously' the seal is not necessarily fastened to the pin before it is passed through the door. When it is desired to insert the fastening-pin, a seal is 4placed over the hole in the door, and the pin then thrust through the seal and the door or the seal may be slipped onto the, pin iirst, if preferred. This form of the pin is preierab1e,t'or it will be seen at once that it saves the manipulation required in the other form to apply the seal tothe pin, so that whenever a car is opened at any station for any purpose whatever, it may readily be locked and sealed up again by simply taking another seal and sticking the pin through it and the door, as described above. A metallic bushing, H, may be placed in the hole through the door, it' desired. Asimple and cheap seal-locking device for car-doors is thus obtained.

The seal may be made of any desired form and of any material, metal being preferred for the end doors of the car, which are opened very infrequently. The seal can readilybedestroyed without injury to the rest of the apparatus.

Substantially the same eect might be produced by the use of a single spring or plate instead of the pair shown and described; but the construction shown is preferable, as preserving better the balance of the device, and thus making it more durable and more certain in action at a very slight additional expense. Someother variations may also be made in form and construction without affecting the princi ple of the invention.

l have described this device as applied to cardoors; but I do not wish to be understood as limiting myinvention to this application alone, for obviously with such slight modifications as may be necessary to adapt it to different locations it may be applied elsewhere for the purpose of locking and sealing apartmentsin buildings, transportation of vessels, bags, &c., and may be made especially valuable for post-oiice mail-bags.

lVhat I claim as my invention, and desire4 to sccure'by Letters Patent, is-

l. In combination with a sliding door, perforated near its rear edge7 a pin of suitable thickness to pass through the door and of a length considerably exceeding the thickness of the door, and having a portion otl its length iiattened or partly cut away on one or more sides, one or more elastic plates or springs, respectively attached by one end to the attened portion of the pin and having their other ends` free, and aseparate and detachable seal of diameter greater than that of the hole in the door, to be aiixed to the outer end of the pin in locking the door, so that the door shall be securely locked when the seal is in place and unlocked by removing it, substantially as described.

2. The pin B, made in one piece, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7 of the drawings, in combination with the elastic plates or springs C, separate and frangible seal E, and the part A, provided with an aperture, a, adapted to receive the pin,but smaller than the seal, substantially as described.

JOSEPH CHAPMAN. Witnesses:

ALrcE HoLLrsrER, JNO. G. MAcGREGon.

TOO 

